Shane Holy shit. It felt like I’d been waiting ages for the chance to get my lips on Rune’s again, even if it had only been since last night in reality. I wanted her desperately, and my rock-hard cock could attest to that, something she soon found out for herself when she flew into my arms out of nowhere. Did I complain? Hell no. Without a moment of hesitation, I crushed my mouth against hers, savoring the delectable vanilla flavor that was purely Rune. Wasting no time, I pressed her up against the wall, letting my hands explore the curves of her body seemingly of their own accord. I couldn’t resist grinding my dick against her as she wrapped her legs around my waist, and I lost myself in the moment, taking everything that she was giving me and demanding more still. My hunger for Rune was on the verge of taking over completely, but somehow, I managed to maintain a shred of sanity, giving me the foresight that I needed to carry my girl down the hall and into the master bedroom w
Micah It’d taken every ounce of the restraint that I’d honed over the years to force myself to step foot outside that room with Rune lying naked and needy between the thin fabric of the sheets. I’d seen the way she’d fidgeted with both Shane and my gazes trained on her in her barely clothed state, in spite of how sated my closest friend had likely left her beforehand, but there was fear in her mien as well. Just the same, I’d known we would have to tread carefully moving forward, and that was one of the main reasons I’d made myself leave the room when I did. Well, that, and the repeated din of knocking coming from the direction of the front door. Reaching the door in the middle of the racket, I didn’t waste time in opening it, giving the man on the outside a glare that would scare most other men in the span of a heartbeat, but he didn’t seem concerned as I snapped out, “There’s a child here trying to sleep. We would appreciate you keeping it down.” Guffawing disdainfully, the guy
Micah “Mom?” Isla’s sweet voice haltingly inquired, continuing with the same breath, saying, “Micah?” as she shattered the silence that’d fallen once I’d switched off the ignition. Roman tacked on, asking, “Why are the officers back? I thought Damien was gone.” He put on a great front, but he wasn’t able to conceal the dread I heard in his tone, all the same. I glanced over at Rune in the passenger seat, attempting to gauge how she wanted to handle the situation, but it looked like she needed a minute to gather her thoughts with this new bit of information throwing a wrench in our afternoon plans. While I didn’t know why the police were here, I was certain that nothing and no one would harm Rune and these children while Shane or I was still breathing. Jasmine was sitting in the back with the other kids, and I reached out to take Rune’s hand, softly running my thumb over the top of it as I heard Jas, trying to brush off the seriousness of what was happening. It was plain that all
Micah I filled Shane in on the new developments surrounding Rune’s ex and the game plan to handle any danger he posed accordingly while Rune spent some much-needed time with her kids and Jasmine, though it wasn’t tough to see that she adored Jas as if she were her own too. Rune’s amazing heart was one of the things that continued to draw me in, among many other things, and I was only that much more pissed at that asshat Damien for putting the kids and her through all this needless stress. It was obvious she didn’t get enough time to simply enjoy the little moments in life, but I was well aware that Shane and I were here now to ensure she didn’t have to go through the trials and tribulations of life alone any longer, whether she was ready to accept the inevitability of us all ending up together yet or not. Nothing would make me give up Rune now, and one look at Shane, cooking up a storm at the stove, informed me that he felt the same. Shane had been known to use his culinary creati
Rune The initial part of my morning went smoothly, as all of them had been going this week thus far with the guys around to lend a hand, but it didn’t detract from the dread I felt at what I had to do today. I’d spent a few minutes gathering extra evidence to support the police report Micah let me know he’d been able to procure, single-minded in my need to prove how demented Damien had always been, but neither Shane nor Micah foresaw an issue with the order being granted. Shane excusing himself yesterday when the police officer was at the house had been confusing, but I’d figured out hurriedly that Micah was more versed within the legal world, though he’d later assured me he would be more than happy to help me if I preferred for him to be the one to accompany me to the courthouse. It was difficult to not second guess everything after the years I’d spent tiptoeing around Damien and his fragile ego, especially with two men involved, but neither one had given me a reason to doubt thei
Rune “Well, look what the cat dragged in. I wasn’t sure you even worked here anymore, Rune.” Elisabeth’s nasally voice made my spine stiffen and my fingers clench, causing the paper I was holding to crinkle loudly in the resounding silence following the other woman’s outburst. Dropping the documents altogether, I spun on my heel, fleetingly taken aback as I saw that Elisabeth wasn’t alone. Amy, the other editor who’d up until recently been sharing this office space with me, was standing next to her, wearing a matching scowl on her face. I guess I wasn’t surprised she’d chosen to back the woman whose red-hot temper matched her hair color, but I wasn’t prepared to deal with this foolishness today. “Hello, Elisabeth, Amy. I don’t have time for this right now. Could you just get to the point?” I asked mildly, my mind already focusing on my next task after I left the office. Amy piped up, showing her true colors after all the months I’d worked amicably with her as she sneered, “It mus
Shane Rune was visibly shaken when her and Isla had come strolling through the door, Micah not far behind them. I looked towards him, my eyebrows raised as I wordlessly questioned how everything had went at the courthouse prior this morning, and I was still feeling grateful that he’d been up for the task, one trip to file a restraining order being plenty for me. Micah’s thumbs up informed me the protective order had been approved, but there was still plainly something bothering our girl. Micah’s mystified expression didn’t give me any additional clues to go on, and, consequently, we both spent the majority of the afternoon trying to get her to open up to no avail. Dying to get out of the house, I volunteered to drive Rune to pick up Roman from school while Micah remained home with Isla, and it was impossible to miss how she couldn’t keep her eyes focused on a single thing, aside from her son, during the entire round trip. A part of me had been concerned that she would kick Micah
Shane Micah and I did our best to convince Rune how perfect the name she’d come up with was, and I meant every word of the praise I’d spoken. The name was catchy and inspiring all at the same time, something that would stand out, but a new name for the rec center was only one of our many worries. No one wanted to talk about Samuel’s aging mind, and it was truthfully still a bit strange to think about how well Rune knew Micah’s dad when we were all really just beginning to get to know one another more fully. All the same, concern over the older man’s health remained like a ticking time bomb in the background until Micah finally just ignited the fuse, saying, “Somehow, we all seem to have missed one thing or another with how hectic our own personal lives have been, but that changes now. I’ll call dad. Next Sunday we’re all having dinner together as a family. Hell, we’ll do it every week like we used to do. No excuses.” The family get togethers that Micah’s parents had used to host o